If there was one thing UNM community members had in common with the eight democratic presidential candidates who debated at Popejoy Hall last night, it was that everyone wanted to speak their mind.
"We could not buy the kind of publicity the University of New Mexico got from this debate," said Vice President for Student Affairs Eliseo Torres. "I think it was well-balanced. It wasn't perfect, but to the millions of viewers who saw it, it was."
Scores of UNM leaders attended the debate introduced by Gov. Bill Richardson.
UNM political science professor and former Oklahoma state Sen. Fred Harris attended the debate and said he agreed with nearly everything the candidates said.
"I was really impressed," said Harris, who campaigned for president in 1976. "These are some real heavy-hitters."
All of those heavy-hitters took the opportunity to establish their disapproval of President Bush.
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"This president is a miserable failure," said U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt.
At least one UNM leader was also willing to make a strong statement about Bush.
"A-B-B - anything but Bush," said Harry Norton, president of United Staff-UNM. Norton, who is a registered democrat, said he will most likely be voting for the most progressive democrat he can in an effort to put anyone in the White House other than the incumbent.
Candidates were asked questions about the war in Iraq, the nation's ailing economy, Hispanic and Latino issues and health care.
Steve McKernan, CEO of the UNM Health Sciences Center, said he thought candidate responses focused mostly on insurance and not very much on health care providers.
"I didn't hear any of them talking about the importance of a health care pipeline," McKernan said, adding that services, funding and health care jobs are just as important as insurance.
Some said they thought the debate would help kick-start student interest in politics.
"I think young people need to realize they have political power and they need to yield it now," said Marshall Martinez, co-chairman of the College Democrats.
James Koch, president of the UNM Board of Regents and state chairman of Gephardt's campaign, said he also hopes the debate will boot student apathy toward politics and voting.
"It's not republican or democrat, it's just important," Koch said.
A group of students who are already politically active, the College Republicans, came to Popejoy to share their views on the democratic debate.
"There seems to be a big rift in the Democratic Party," said Alex Hughes, co-chairman of the College Republicans.
Although higher education and education policy were not topics of moderator questions, UNM President Louis Caldera said he thinks several higher education issues will become important later in the campaign, including the challenge many foreign students and researchers are facing when trying to come to the United States.
"The increasing difficulties of having foreign students come to the United States will have far-reaching effects," Caldera said.
Koch is already looking beyond last night's debate. He wants Bush and the Democratic presidential candidate to debate at UNM in 2004.
"I would love to have the republicans here too," he said.
